Is this the Beginning of the End of Skype on PostgreSQL?

May 17, 2011

True statement - Microsoft is now one of PostgreSQL’s largest users. Last week it was announced that Microsoft is buying Skype for a reported $8.5 billion in cash. What was not reported in this recent acquisition news cycle is an interesting fact -- Skype runs on the open source database PostgreSQL. Since Microsoft has a SQL database of its own – SQL Server – it’s a fair question to ask if this is the beginning of the end of Skype on PostgreSQL? There’s more than a few ways to speculate on what Microsoft plans to do with the database infrastructure of Skype. Some argue that the prospects for generating revenue off Skype far outweigh having Skype be a poster-child deployment for SQL Server. With making money as the first priority, Microsoft may never be motivated to migrate from PostgreSQL to SQL Server. Another valid argument is that most users will never know nor care what database is behind Skype as long as it works well. Just look at the current news cycle – there are thousands of articles, blogs, radio and TV outlets reporting on this story. I could not find a single report that mentions PostgreSQL in the context of the Skype acquisition news. Given the low public profile of PostgreSQL at Skype, Microsoft doesn’t need to answer yet about the irony of their new purchase running on open source PostgreSQL and not on Microsoft SQL Server. What do you think? Is this the beginning of the end of Skype running on PostgreSQL?

Ed Boyajian, President and CEO of EDB, drives the development and execution of EDB’s strategic vision and growth strategy in the database industry. Ed joined EDB in 2008 after six years at Red Hat, where he rose to Vice President and General Manager of North America. He played a central...